EDITOR’S NOTE, February 16, 2024: On February 15, Justice Department Counsel David Weiss indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov on two felony counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record for claims made to the bureau. The charges are in relation to June 2020 FD-1023 form alleging President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden received a combined $10 million in a bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
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The morning after the broadcast networks seemingly moved on from Hunter Biden’s cushy plea deal with his father’s Department of Justice, NBC’s Today show revisited the story Thursday morning to decry Republicans’ attempts to hold Democrats accountable. They also huffed at Republicans for censuring Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff (CA) for using his former position on the House Intelligence Committee to push the Russia Collusion Hoax, a censure ABC and CBS ignored.
Leading into the report, Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles lamented that “Republican lawmakers are convinced there's still more dirt to dig up on the president's son” and that they were trying to ensure Hunter’s “legal woes” were “becoming a pestering political problem for his father.”
Intentionally ignoring the audio evidence and whistleblower reports showing that President Biden indeed talked with his son about his oversea business dealing, Nobles rhetorically scoffed at the GOP’s focus on the possible misdeeds of the Biden family:
Republicans remain convinced that the President's family is involved in a bribery scheme, which they allege involve Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings. The President has denied any wrongdoing and has said he has never spoke to his son about his business deals. And the plea deal Hunter just cut, also does not involve his overseas work. But Republicans on both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are continuing to conduct wide-ranging probes of the President's family as well as federal law enforcement unfairly targeting former President Trump.
“So far, those probes have turned up accusations, but little hard evidence, and Democrats argue it's just a tactic to take the pressure off Trump,” he snarked.
Of course, this omits Hunter’s own admission that his business partners in Burisma saw his family name as “gold.” And his other business partners around the globe likely saw it the same way. Even ABC chief Washington correspondent Jon Karl has admitted Hunter’s business dealings were questionable.
Nobles also wasn’t too pleased with the Republican censure of Schiff. He let Schiff do the talking on that one, playing a soundbite of him dismissing Republicans as “crazy people.” “Sometimes you can judge a person by the enemies they make. Judging from the kind of crazy people that were on the floor today that supported this resolution, I'm doing really well measured by that standard,” he said.
This was less than noble for Nobles since Schiff spent four years lying to him and his media colleagues about there being “significant evidence of collusion” between Trump and Russia.
NBC continued to be the only broadcast network to cover the congressional hearing featuring former Special Counsel John Durham testifying on his findings after investigating the origins of the Russia Collusion Hoax. “The public airing of Durham's probe just one aspect of Republican attempts to re-litigate the aftermath of the 2016 race,” Nobles downplayed the findings, which backed up the damning inspector general’s report that uncovered gross misconduct from the FBI.
NBC’s disapproval of Democrats being help to account for possible corruption and confirmed lying to the public was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Google and Citi. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Today
June 22, 2023
7:14:11 a.m. easternHODA KOTB: There is new fallout over this week's federal plea deal for Hunter Biden. Republicans in Congress now vowing to ramp up their investigations into the President's son and his business deals. NBC’s Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles joins us with the story. Hi Ryan, good morning.
RYAN NOBLES: Hoda, good morning. And Hunter Biden's lawyer made it clear he believes the investigation into his client is over, but on Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers are convinced there's still more dirt to dig up on the president's son. The Biden's son legal woes becoming a pestering political problem for his father.
[Cuts to video]
The Department of Justice may be prepared to close the book on the Hunter Biden saga, but on Capitol Hill, Republicans are just getting started.
UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSMAN: I think other investigations will go on.
NOBLES: Republicans remain convinced that the President's family is involved in a bribery scheme which they allege involve Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings. The President has denied any wrongdoing and has said he has never spoke to his son about his business deals. And the plea deal Hunter just cut, also does not involve his overseas work. But Republicans on both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees are continuing to conduct wide-ranging probes of the President's family as well as federal law enforcement unfairly targeting former President Trump.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): I don't think they're going to give it up.
NOBLES: So far, those probes have turned up accusations, but little hard evidence, and Democrats argue it's just a tactic to take the pressure off Trump.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): They are embarrassed by what happened to the president - former President, in Florida. They believe that even allowing a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney to take over the case against Hunter Biden, without interference from the President, is not good enough.
NOBLES: On Wednesday, House members grilled John Durham the special counsel tasked with looking into the origins of the investigation, into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): You lost all the cases you brought to trial, correct?
JOHN DURHAM (former special counsel): Correct.
NOBLES: Republicans attempting to show that the Mueller probe revealed fundamental flaws in the federal structure infrastructure.
DURHAM: We found troubling violations of law and policy in the conduct of highly consequential investigations directed at members a presidential campaign.
NOBLES: The public airing of Durham's probe just one aspect of Republican attempts to re-litigate the aftermath of the 2016 race.
Also censured Congressman Adam Schiff for his role in the Russia probe.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Sometimes you can judge a person by the enemies they make. Judging from the kind of crazy people that were on the floor today that supported this resolution, I'm doing really well measured by that standard.
[Cuts back to live]
NOBLES: And there's even a push to put a vote on the floor to impeach President Biden. But even House Speaker Kevin McCarthy argues that goes too far. Instead of taking the vote right to the floor, he has rerouted the process through a series of House committees. Hoda?
KOTB: All right. Ryan Nobles for us at the Capitol. Ryan, thank you.
